NordVPN review: an accessible VPN that makes no compromises

With 14 million users, NordVPN is still growing steadily with nearly 6,000 servers distributed in around sixty countries. Here are its prices:

• € 79.20 for 2 years (+ 3 months free);
• € 47.20 for one year;
• € 9.56 for one month.

Confidentiality

Based in Panama, the company NordVPN enjoys favorable jurisdiction over the Data protection. Panama being quite permissive in this regard, the company can afford to apply a strict “no-log” policy, meaning that the service does not keep any data on you when you pass through its servers. The presence of a Kill Switch, which will cut your connection internet in the event of disconnection from the service, ensures that you are never browsing unprotected. Finally, the protocol AES-256 promises a encryption foolproof against entities wanting spy on your activities on the Web.

Interface and functionality

NordVPN’s interface has improved a lot recently with the addition of a French translation and a dark mode, putting it on par with much of its competition. Whether on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android (and his declination for smartTV), iOS, Firefox or Chrome, NordVPN offers the same fluid and intuitive experience with a choice of servers that can be via a menu listing all the countries or directly on the displayed map.

The client leaves the choice for the user to connect to the server fastest or manually choose the precise location of the server. Peer-to-peer options are also available but we’ll get to that in detail later. Finally, note the presence of an ad blocker.

Performances

In our tests on servers in different countries, we got the following results on our connection Wi-Fi bundled with the SpeedTest tool:

• Serverless (France): 346 Mbps downstream / 264 Mbps upstream;
• France: 288 Mbps downstream / 183 Mbps upstream;
• United Kingdom: 265 Mbps downstream / 191 Mbps upstream;
• United States: 135 Mbps downstream / 162 Mbps upstream;
• Japan: 96.5 Mbps downstream / 95.5 Mbps upstream;
• Australia: 81.6 Mbps downstream / 164 Mbps upstream.

Thanks to its new protocol called Nordlynx, NordVPN shows satisfactory results even if the servers located in Japan and Australia will not be the best suited for content consumption or downloading.

Unblocking content and Torrent

NordVPN does not have servers specifically dedicated to streaming, but it is generally sufficient to select the fastest server in the desired geographical area to be able to unblock geographically blocked content from Netflix, Prime Video, HBO, etc. Despite the war that Netflix and others are waging against VPN, NordVPN does very well and crosses barriers without any hassle. For lovers of peer-to-peer downloads (peer-to-peer), optimized servers are available and offer satisfactory performance while ensuring the user safety.

Futura’s opinion

NordVPN is a great VPN. It offers value for money that few competitors can claim to match, let’s not exceed. Nine years were enough for the service to reach maturity and offer an almost flawless experience. Apart from a complex configuration on routers, the service will be suitable for anyone who wants a simple VPN without the hassle or breaking the bank.

Technical sheet

• Protocoles : OpenVPN, IKEv2/IPSec, NordLynx ;
• Simultaneous connections: 6;
• Availability: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Android TV, Chrome, Firefox;
• Storage: RAM ;
• “No-log” policy: yes, certified by several audits;
• Payment in cryptocurrency: yes;
• 24/7 customer chat in French.

Article produced in partnership with the NordVPN teams